Page 77 of Fae Crown

My throat bobbed as I swallowed. “That’s not my fault,” I whispered when I wished I could growl my outrage at the injustice of my father’s reactions.

“No, it isn’t,” Dashiell conceded. “But it doesn’t change how he feels. He can’t help it.”

“Oh, but I’m supposed to controlmyemotions? I’m supposed to not inconvenience anyone because of hisfeelings? I’m supposed to make do without a father or a mother because he’s mourning her? What aboutme? Why don’t I get to mourn her? I never even got to know her. I should get to grieve for her more than anyone else.”

Therewas the righteous anger I’d been looking for. “I was sent away from my birthplace, practically exiled, forced to live as a slave among strangers, because ‘my father’ couldn’t deal with me. I was lied to about who I was my entire life, up until I was taken away by force, only to be hurt over and over again.”

“You were never a slave,” Dashiell said, as if that were the only issue that needed addressing. “That wasn’t the deal Oren made with Lohan.”

“Wait, what? Lohan? He’s Erasmus’ brother, right? What’s he got to do with anything?”

“It took Oren a long time to find him, but that’s where Lohan disappeared to. With the dragons.”

“What? How?”

“You should know all this, girl,” he snapped. “It’s basic history. Well, not the part where Lohan ended up. His fate was a mystery not even Erasmus knew.”

“I don’t know Embermere’s history because I was raised as aslavein Nightguard, remember? My entire lineage and origins were kept a secret from me. I mean, you are listening to me, right?”

I was still no more decided than when I’d lived in Nightguard about whether or not I’d qualified as a slave, but Dashiell didn’t need to know that. Slave, servant—a person without free will to do as they wished—it was pretty much all the same thing.

Dashiell’s mouth and nose rose to meet each other as if he were smelling something rancid. “Lohan was the first-born son. He was always intended to wear the crown and take over for his mother, who was queen. He was to rule Embermere and continue the golden age of the Mirror World.”

“Let me guess,” I interjected. “Erasmus forced him away and took the throne, then killed all the dragons. No, wait. Erasmus probably killed his brother too.”

“Not at all. Erasmus adored Lohan. Or so the story goes. That was a bit before my time. Erasmus looked up to Lohan, admiring his big brother in every way. When Lohan became enamored with the dragons, so did Erasmus. They spent a great deal of time with the beasts. Lohan in particular was said to have a special bond with them. The dragons used to be practically worshipped in Embermere.

“But one day Lohan disappeared. Erasmus searched to the ends of the Mirror World looking for him. When he was never found, it was assumed he’d ridden off on a dragon, something that had never before been done. Dragons were never ridden, not by any fae ever. But Lohan had that special connection, and Erasmus believed it the only explanation. That he’dflown off on one, beyond the boundaries of our portal world … somehow.

“For days, months, and then years, Erasmus waited for Lohan to return. It took Erasmus a very long time to accept his brother was gone, but then his mother had Lohan deemed dead, and Erasmus suddenly found himself the new crown prince, when he’d never imagined he’d rule. That had always been Lohan’s destiny.”

My breaths grew short. “Erasmus punished the dragons for taking his brother from him,” I guessed.

Dashiell allowed his eyes to flutter closed for a moment. “He laid siege to the dragons we fae had been taught to hold sacred. Killed every single one he could find. Burned the eggs before they could hatch. Dragons had been a great part of our culture. And then, suddenly, they were gone. None left.”

“Except for Nightguard,” I breathed.

“Except for Nightguard. But Oren didn’t learn of its existence for a long time. Not until after you were born. That’s when he discovered that’s where Lohan had gone.

“Lohan was old by then. When he heard what his brother had done, it killed him. Broke his heart. Erasmus was already dead at that point, Talisa already in power.”

“I’ve never heard of Lohan. Zako never told me, but I guess that’s not a surprise. Everything was a lie with him.”

Dashiell sat up suddenly. “Zako was an honorableman who made a significant sacrifice in honor of his king. He was the best of us.”

“Did you know him?” There was something there, something potent, just beneath Dashiell’s words.

“Yes, I did, and I won’t stand by you speaking ill of him.”

I let his words hang in the air until I worried he’d stop telling the story. “Continue. Please.”

He scowled at me as if I were a rotten, spoiled child, then crossed his arms over his chest. After a glare of open disapproval, “You wouldn’t have heard mention of Lohan by that name. The prince heir changed it once he arrived in the Nightguard Mountains. Apparently, he went by the name of Fueridiah.”

I gasped. “Ihaveheard of him. He was a legend. They say he could speak with the dragons in his mind.”

I suspected the dragons might have even given him his new name. After all, the sapphire dragon had been the one to tell me dragons were once known asfuerin. It wasn’t a stretch to guess they might have extended that name to the man who connected with them so deeply as to speak to them through his thoughts.

Just like I did.

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